Translated, ''Junoon'' means ''passion'' - and that's what this 10-year-old rock group has brought to a Pakistani music scene that has often been forced underground. The group has been banned for nearly half of its existence, yet has still sold millions of records. Two years ago, it won MTV/Asia's award for best international group, beating out the Backstreet Boys and Prodigy. The story of Junoon is told in a VH1 news special tonight called ''Islamabad: Rock City'' (premiering at 10 on the cable music station). It contains stunning footage of the band playing guerrilla gigs in Pakistan, including one at a women's college where the crowd goes wild for Junoon's Western electric rock mixed with lyrics often inspired by Sufi poetry.

    ''Since Sept. 11, all cultural activities stopped in Pakistan. You couldn't get permission to do anything,'' Ahmad says in a recent phone interview, explaining why his band played the sneak gig at the women's college. It was held on Oct. 9, the birthday of John Lennon, one of Junoon's biggest influences.

    Junoon also played a peace concert at the United Nations in New York on Oct. 24, sharing a bill with the Indian band Euphoria. An advance review tape of tonight's TV special did not include footage from that gig, but Ahmad was hoping to get it added. He had previously been to the UN's headquarters as a representative of Pakistan on AIDS matters. (He once planned to become a doctor, before the lure of rock 'n' roll proved too great.) He also spent part of his youth in the States, because his dad was an executive with Pakistani International Airlines. In fact, he saw his first rock concert in this country, in 1977: It was Led Zeppelin, which helps explains his love of hard rock.

    In Junoon, Ahmad plays guitar and writes all the songs; his bandmates are Ali Azmat on vocals and Brian O'Connell on bass. Azmat is Pakistani, but O'Connell is an American whom Ahmad met in school in New York and persuaded to come to Pakistan when Junoon formed in the early '90s. To see what Junoon has been up against since, watch tonight's special and listen to the interviews with religious fundamentalists in Pakistan. One says, ''God's name can only be used to preach. It is forbidden to sing about it.'' Junoon has also faced government persecution, notably when it released a video a few years ago for the song ''Accountability,'' which showed young children doing menial jobs, juxtaposed with clips of politicians gorging on food in fancy hotels. Junoon was banned at that time for ''having long hair and for corrupting the youth with Western values,'' says Ahmad.

    Junoon has made seven albums and has toured China, Japan, and Western Europe. Judging from the sound bites on tonight's special, the band's music is a magnetic, high-energy whirlwind. But though the members have sold a reported 20 million albums, they have never gotten rich in the business, due to piracy in their most popular markets in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

    ''No one makes money in royalties in Pakistan and Southern Asia,'' says Ahmad. ''The piracy is like 100 percent, and the retail price of albums is like nothing. An album will sell for 80 cents. Even a U2 album would be just $1.

    ''You have to be crazy like us to be musicians,'' he says. ''You have to go on tour to make any money. We're like traveling folk gypsies.''

    This story ran on page D1 of the Boston Globe on 11/29/2001.